


Phantom comfort

by Sneezysoul



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Multi, Vivi and Mystery are briefly mentioned, hint of an eventual ot3 but you can ignore it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 01:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19122010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sneezysoul/pseuds/Sneezysoul
Summary: He can feel his arm.





	Phantom comfort

**Author's Note:**

> (Special thanks to my buddy, Cave ([TigerClawBlues](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigerclawblues/pseuds/tigerclawblues)) for editing and stuff!)
> 
> Hi i wrote this entirely on mobile as texting practice. I'm horrible at texting and figured a small story aughta help! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

He can feel his arm.

 

He groans into the dark room he faced. He’d been taking a nap and ended up forgetting to set an alarm. It must have been late at night by now, and Vivi was probably already in bed.

 

A shiver runs down his spine as he feels his fingers twitch. He clenches his eyelids back closed for just a few more seconds, hoping that the feeling would just leave him alone for tonight.

 

He knows it won't, though.

 

He never signed up for this.

 

He sits up with a few pops and some crackling; his prosthetic arm, when left on while he slept, usually made those noises when he woke. Probably a sign of wear. He really should have removed it earlier.

 

Turning so his feet touch the floor, he sighs, blinking the sleep away. Through the cracks of the curtain he can see light from the streetlight shining in. Usually he found that distracting enough, but this night left him feeling….off. In a bad way.

 

Standing up, he decides to make his way out of the room. He tries to ignore the urge to curl nonexistent fingers into a loose fist.

 

It sucks, honestly. Why did his body have to do this to him? His arm was gone. He'll never get it back. He's already done crying about it.

 

A sudden twinge of pain has him halting in the middle of the staircase, gripping the rail with a cringe.

 

A few beats and it's gone as soon as it arrived. He knows it's just a warning, though, and that he should grab his medicine before things got worse.

 

He quickly finishes walking down the stairs before turning to the living room; he'd left the medicine in his travel bag that morning.

 

They'd been investigating some ghost town up north and finally came home today. It was such a relief to be home at the mansion again, but….his nerves were still a little shot.

 

He'd been used as ghost bait again. It might not sound scary, but to him it was terrifying. He's the only ‘normal’ member of the mystery skulls, so…ghosts just...loved him?

 

He didn't know why or anything, though. Only Mystery seemed to get why, and he always assured Arthur it was nothing bad.

 

Arthur wasn't sure if he believed him.

 

He drags his travel bag to the couch, sitting down quietly to sift through it. He wasn't very organized when they had to pack up, just throwing everything in a bag at once. He hopes he won't have to just dump everything out in the end.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Arthur jumps with a shout; whipping around, he can see Lewis standing near the other side of the couch, looking human and….not as ghostly as he was on the ride home.

 

Perhaps he was still ‘training’ himself on how long he can hold the illusion.

 

Lewis slowly makes his way to sit on the couch as well, trying to look as unintimidating as he could, if only for Arthur's nerves.

 

Arthur didn’t mean to, but sometimes seeing lewis….was scary.

 

Sometimes.

 

He's getting better.

 

“Im...uhm,” Arthur gestures to his bag. “Looking for stuff.”

 

Lewis raises a brow at that. “In the middle of the night?”

 

“I couldn't sleep,” Arthur answers truthfully. 

 

He wasn’t one to admit his insomnia was bad, but tonight it was a different problem.

 

Also he technically  _ did _ sleep.

 

“Do you...need any help?” Lewis asks.

 

Arthur pauses in his search. Lewis must have seen he wasn’t using his prosthetic as much tonight. 

 

He sighs, defeated, holding onto the lid of the bag as another short pain coursed through his arm. “I can't find my medicine.”

 

He shudders again. Feeling something that was no longer there….it wasnt a good feeling.

 

Lewis, seeing his friend distressed, scoots closer and gently tugs the bag, which Arthur lets him take.

 

Arthur sits back as Lewis searches through the luggage. He holds onto his prosthetic, rubbing circles into it with his thumb, if only for some comfort.

 

“Why didn't you organize this earlier?” Lewis asks, huffing in amusement as he pulls out a large wrench from the luggage. He gently sets it to the side on the floor.

 

“Was in a rush to leave.”

 

Lewis hums in reply. “The ghost scare you that bad?”

 

Arthur tightens his hold on the prosthetic, glancing over to the staircase. He briefly wonders if Vivi and Mystery were still sound asleep.

 

At his reluctance to answer, Lewis sits up from his search and gives Arthur a reassuring pat on the knee. “Hey…..if anything ever scares you that bad, tell someone, okay? You don't always have to do whatever Vivi says, alright?”

 

Arthur licks his lips, thinking over how to exactly respond, when the hand on his knee tightens into a hold.

 

“We'll understand.” Lewis adds on. He takes his hand back after a minute, a pinkish flush on his cheeks.

 

A pain in the wrist that was no longer there had Arthur's breath hitch. Lewis, seeing the pained look on his face, immediately goes back to digging into the bag.

 

A few deadbeats all look down at them from the large bookshelf across the room. They coo a little tune in comfort, but they make no move to either Lewis or Arthur. Arthur figured Lewis was somehow telling them to stay back or something.

 

Did ghosts communicate through aura like Vivi says?

 

Before he could properly stop himself, he breathes a heavy breath, “I just…I-I just don't want to be a burden.”

 

Lewis sighs through his nose quietly, before pulling out the medicine bottle.

 

They had this conversation before. It was the same old song and dance. That didn't mean it wasn't different every time, though.

 

This time Lewis waves a hand to the kitchen, and a few of the larger deadbeats go there with no hesitation. One whistles a tune as they pass Arthur.

 

Lewis sits back, leaning heavily into the cushions.

 

Seeing them press back against the ghost took the edge off seeing his friend. Not that there was much of an edge in the first place, but...it was comforting to notice.

 

“You're not a burden.” Lewis says slowly. He gently holds onto Arthur's arm in reassurance.

 

“Sorry.” Arthur tells him. He just felt so...sorry. For more than just being scared.

 

Lewis wouldn't hear it, though. Lewis had immediately forgiven Arthur for his death the moment Mystery told them all that had happened about a year ago.

 

“It's okay,” Lewis shrugs, handing the pill bottle to Arthur, “you were just scared. You can always come to me or Vivi if you ever get that bad okay?”

 

‘What about Mystery?’ Is a question Arthur no longer asks. He used to, as a joke long ago.

 

Mystery...made him feel uneasy. They were still working on it, really. So long as Mystery didn't show teeth, Arthur didn't panic.

 

Which was a hard thing for a dog to do.

 

“Okay?” Lewis repeats.

 

Arthur nods, “okay.” 

 

Lewis doesn't take his hand away when Arthur shakes as he feels like his wrist had moved. He wishes it'd just stop so he can go to sleep again.

 

But now he was feeling anxious, even with Lewis there for him. The ghost from earlier really did scare him.

 

Vivi hadn't been able to exorcise it. What if it followed them?

 

"It didn't." Lewis says as soon as Arthur makes the thought known.

 

The tight feeling in his chest is still there, even with the ghost's assurances. Maybe this just had no rhyme nor reason again. Maybe it was because of his missing limb. 

 

The feeling wasn't because of Lewis this time, so that's one thing to be thankful about.

 

Just as he begins fumbling with the cap on the bottle, the few deadbeats Lewis had sent away earlier come back, carrying a water bottle between them all.

 

From how they looked, one would think that water bottle was a good fifty pounds or something.

 

But no, they were just small ghosts who haven't learned to be more ghost or whatever Mystery had tried explaining earlier.

 

Lewis takes the water from them. "Thank you."

 

He hands it to Arthur, who then...pauses.

 

He couldn't open the pill bottle with just one hand. The water was easy, but he'd put the lid on the pill bottle without turning it upside down, so now it was child-proof. And amputee proof, apparently.

 

Lewis, seeing his struggle, holds a hand out for the pill bottle. Arthur hands it to him after another try at opening it.

 

Lewis pops it open easily, "I thought you had to take these once every day?"

 

Arthur, taking it back and pinching a few pills out, balancing the bottle on his leg as he does so, hums an agreement. He was supposed to do so, but yesterday it didn't even cross his mind, and by the time he got home the only thing on his mind had been going to bed.

 

Swallowing them with the water, he closes both bottles and sets them on the small coffee table in front of the couch.

 

Hopefully it helps this time; last time it just made his missing arm feel tingly. 

 

Though that might have been just himself. It's not like he can control the feeling whenever it decides to show up.

 

He wishes he could, though.

 

Lewis leans forward to pluck the remote from the table, showing it to Arthur, "How about a distraction?"

 

Arthur wants to shrug a shoulder in response, but doesn't want to risk moving so much. Sometimes it was easier to just lie down and work through the phantom pains than run through the house looking for his meds.

 

"Sure," he replies at last, slowly reaching to take the offered remote.

 

He didn't know what to watch, so as soon as the television is on he switches it to something he could enjoy without much thought: cartoons.

 

Lewis doesn't comment, merely looking at the screen with a newfound interest.

 

"What's this called? I don't remember it," Lewis asks.

 

"Oh," Arthur puts the remote on the arm of the couch, "it's called okay kay-oh or something. It's pretty cute. Vivi's a fan."

 

A few seconds of watching the show, Lewis turns his attention to Arthur. "What about you?"

 

"I haven't watched a lot of cartoons lately," Arthur admits.

 

Lewis looks surprised, but says no more as he goes to continue watching the show.

 

Arthur used to be super into cartoons. He had a lot of cute things belonging to his most favorite shows laying around here and there.

 

Sadly, with Lewis gone it….just didn't feel the same watching cartoons again. They used to be a comfort for Arthur when Lewis wasn't…..gone.

 

They're slowly becoming a comfort again, but it's been a while. It took him forever to enjoy watching them once more.

 

Lewis was back, after all. They could probably spend this time catching up to some of their old shows.

 

If Lewis wanted to, anyway. Arthur wouldn't blame him if he just didn't want to hang out so much anymore.

 

They have hung out a lot since Lewis came back, but Arthur still had doubts.

 

A yawn escapes him before he can stop it. It’s late, and despite the tingly feeling his missing arm gave, he can feel how heavy each blink felt. He can feel how tired his body is.

 

He's snapped out of his thoughts as Lewis pats his own lap. "You wanna lay down? It's pretty late."

 

That offer….was tempting.

 

But what would Vivi say? Arthur couldn't just...cuddle with her boyfriend or anything. That'd be weird. Right?

 

He loved them both, but he didn't want to make them uncomfortable. He was fine being back to third wheel so long as everyone was safe and sound.

 

Lewis pats at his lap again. "C'mon, we've done this before."

 

Prompted by such actions, Arthur was certain that even if he wanted to, he'd never be able to say 'no'.

 

But….he should probably detach his prosthetic before ever laying back down.

 

He makes sure Lewis knew what he was doing before he did it; last time he'd taken off his arm without first telling him, Lewis had flipped out and instantly went into 'mother mode' on him.

 

It….hurt when he took the arm off. It didn't hurt as bad as it used to, but it still hurt nonetheless.

 

Thankfully Lance had added quick release triggers on it so if Arthur ever got his arm stuck in another car while on the job all he had to do was click those to be free.

 

Lance wasn't one to let accidents happen again. Arthur was glad he actually let Lance tinker with the arm.

 

He pops it off quickly, a pained grunt being the only indication it had hurt to do so. He pushes it to the floor with his leg as he lays down against Lewis.

 

Lewis' hand immediately goes to card through his hair, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't practically melt against that feeling; Lewis knew that was one of Arthur's favorite comforts.

 

Arthur Curls against him comfortably, smushing his cheek into Lewis' leg before watching the show playing on the television.

 

Lewis leans back, getting comfortable himself.

 

They haven't done this since before the cave.

 

It felt nice.

 

Lewis doesn't stop running fingers through Arthur's hair even when the commercials show.

 

Arthur lets out a content sigh. His eyelids feel so heavy, he's sure he could fall asleep at any moment, missing arm be damned.

 

Lewis shifts a bit, before something - a blanket - is thrown over Arthur and gently tucked around him.

 

For a few minutes, he does his best to stay awake like this; enjoying the wonderful comforts.

 

Perhaps Lewis planned on him sleeping.

 

Honestly, at this point Arthur welcomed the idea.

 

He hums in confirmation at nothing, before ducking his nose under the covers, just the way he liked it.

 

His eyes fall closed, and he can hear the volume of the television being turned down.

 

A click of the television turning off, and he found himself doing so as well, fast asleep with the lightest of snores.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It doesn't even cross his mind that by the time he falls asleep, he can no longer feel his arm.


End file.
